yeong-eo

There's a new eatery in my area. It's called "Miss&Mr Potato". Extraordinary name.

They sell french fries and hot dogs. I just had some, it was okay.

The inside looks like a coffee shop. Koreans already are wild for coffee shops, they're everywhere over here. So this potato place is going for that feel to it, except instead of sipping on a latte they want people to eat fries. I guess it could work.

On the walls of this establishment were some English words and phrases that kinda make you shake your head when you see them. On one wall was written "life...job...culture...health". I don't know what that means. On another wall was written "fall into potato's temptation". Again, puzzling. Also, another restaurant in my area inexplicably has the chorus to "Yesterday" by The Beatles written on the wall. It's almost certain that the people who put up things like this don't know what they mean, and most of the Koreans who see the signs don't know either. It's just English words and looks nice, sorta.

This all got me thinking about what English most Koreans do know. Of course some know more than others, but there are a few things that seemingly all Koreans can say in English. Off the top of my head, they are:

Where are you from?
What's your name?
Handsome face!
My friend!
See you again!
Can I take picture?

That's...that's about all I can think of.

Just so you, the title of this post is the Korean word for "English".